The big cat is part of international efforts to conserve the endangered Asiatic lion species

'This prevents us from being able to move young mammals on to other collections. Hence the need to curtail breeding.

'There are lots of fit and healthy breeding animals here, representatives of rare and endangered species, many of which, like the Asiatic lions, are part of international efforts to conserve their species. In fact,

'Maliya and Lucifer are the second most important breeding pair in Europe.

Vets at Paignton Zoo, Devon, administered general anaesthetic before a quick operation was performed to insert the contraceptive implant under her skin

'It's frustrating, but we have to manage them responsibly until we can resolve the situation. We only have so much space.'

Senior head keeper of mammals Rob Rouse said: 'Even though the European Endangered species Programme for Asiatic lions is keen for these animals to continue breeding, we need to be responsible about managing the space we have so we don't run out of room.

Asiatic lioness Maliya with her two cubs, a daughter Arya, and son Yali, in their enclosure

'We need to keep our animals to the highest standards at all times.'

Maliya's was given a general anaesthetic, before a quick operation was performed to insert the contraceptive implant under her skin.

It was carried out by the zoo's in-house vet team in the off-show lion den.